Disarming Charm
by Scooterbug8515
Summary: In taking stories from people Gilderoy Lockhart had come to expect a thing or two from the people he spoke with, yet this time he was caught by surprise and off gaurd in the most unsual of ways. Written in response to a challenge.


When Gilderoy agreed to speak with Miranda Hopkirk about her dealings with vampires he had not expected to be meeting her at a little cottage that apeared as if it came strait from one of those home care books that he had been featured in many times over. It was quaint and small with bright yellow curtains in the windows and blue morning glories sitting in the flower beds that hung off of the window sills. There was a cobble stone path that worked it's way up to the house. The most disparaging thing about the entire surrounding area were the vines growing up the side of the house, but rather than looking dark and ragged as many are prone to do it simply added to the charm of the place.

Upon approaching the door Gilderoy made sure his periwinkle blue robes were straight and his hair was perfect using the slightly warped reflection on the brass knocker as reference. Knowing he looked good Gilderoy put on his most award winning smile and preceded to rap the knocker. If this house was any indication of the person who lived within, he was going to have this Miranda eating out of the palm of his hand giving him every juicy detail of her encounter with the vampires though he was beginning to doubt that Miranda Hopkirk was the actual one who dealt with them, surely it was her husband rather than her. Not that Gilderoy thought little of women, there were some fine extravagant ladies he had met in his time when talking to people about their adventures before wiping their memories clean it was simply a matter that Miranda did not seem to fit the bill judging by her house.

Shortly after the rap at the door, Gilderoy heard a faint 'coming' from within the house. In moments the door opened slowly to reveal a rather petite woman. She was quite possibly the shortest woman who wasn't part something else he had ever seen. He would have guessed she was part something like Goblin, much like the charms professor from Ravenclaw, but this wasn't the case, she was much too tall for that. She ranged in about four feet, which was another great surprise and shock to Gilderoy, though he tired not to allow it to show on his face as he layered on the charm.

"Mrs. Hopkirk?" asked Gilderoy in a silken voice giving a slight bow to the woman.

"Actually it is Miss," chirped the woman with a kind smile as she opened the door further to allow Gilderoy entrance. "You must be Mr. Lockhart! Please do come in!"

With a gallant step Gilderoy entered the house smile never leaving his perfect features as he took in the surroundings. The house was decorated just as quaint as the outside with hand crochet doilies sitting under various glass and crystal bowls that were set out for decoration, some painted with flowers, others containing flowers and one in particular holding soft pastel squares of which Gilderoy assumed was a candy. There was even an ornate Koo-koo clock that adored the beige wall across the way. All the colors of the house were soft and soothing making Gilderoy question all the more the skills of the woman before him. Most brave adventurers he had met were a far cry from the image that was being painted before him.

"Please call me Gilderoy," he answered turning to face the woman, seeing for the first time something that was out of place, around the door was a garland of garlic. It surprised him as it was so very out of sorts with the rest of the house, but all the same if this Miranda was whom her letters indicated that she was, it would make sense that she would be inclined to ward the creatures off.

"Well then, Gilderoy, you may call me Miranda. I never was much for formalities," she smiled. "You can come on into the kitchen with me, it's just through the dinning room here. I've been working on some toffee nut cookies today and I have a batch just coming out of the oven."

Gilderoy followed without question into the kitchen which was small and quaint like the rest of the house. There was a table for two on one side of the kitchen and a batch of cookies sitting on a rack cooling, while the other fresh batch were sitting atop the small stove top waiting to be dished out.

"I love to cook, particularly when I have guests coming over," explained Miranda as she moved to place the already cooled cookies in a merry pile on a plate before she placed the fresh ones on the cooling rack. "This was my last batch. I had been hoping to be done before you arrived."

Gilderoy marveled at the woman before him wondering if someone had slipped him a bit of essence of insanity before he had come. He felt almost as if were at his grandmothers house though her house was nothing like this. She always fussed over him and made sure that he still held that dazzling smile of his. So it was more like Miranda was a second grandmother who made for a quiet relaxing home for her grandchildren to visit.

"I admit I am a bit early," answered Gilderoy working to keep his focus and charm at front. There was something almost disarming about the woman. If she was who she claimed to be there was going to be some difficulty on his part to take from her what he had taken from several others before her.

"Which is perfectly fine Gilderoy, I always admire a person who can find themselves to be punctual, if not early. Would you care for some tea?"

"Please."

Miranda pulled out her wand and waved it to produce a pot and two cups before lifting the lid of the tea pot and streaming hot water from her wand into it after which she added a few tea leaves and gave the whole thing a quick stir before producing a tray with which to carry the pot, cups and cookies to the table.

"This is all very kind of you," spoke Gilderoy helping to remove things from the tray such as the cups to set down in front of and across from him while Miranda placed the tea and cookies in the middle of the table.

"It is no trouble at all," answered Miranda before vanishing the tray and sitting down across from Gilderoy promptly pouring the tea. "I forgot to ask, how do you take your tea?" asked Miranda.

"Just a lump or two of sugar is fine," answered Gilderoy almost forgetting why he was there in the first place, getting wrapped up in the whole process of having a lovely afternoon tea with a rather kindly woman who could pass for a grandmother.

Once the tea and cookies had been served Miranda started the conversation taking Gilderoy by surprise, he was usually the one to initiate the conversation, but had quite near forgotten his purpose in being there.

"I take, as per your letters you wanted to talk about my experiences with the vampires?"

Though she spoke the truth of why he was there, it was rather disarming all the same. Miranda spoke in a rather matter of fact tone which almost seemed harsh in comparison to her softer more nurturing tone she had been using. Gilderoy blinked a few times, surprise registering on his face looking almost as if he had just seen the Dark Lord traipse through the room doing the can-can.

There was a gentle laugh that issued forth from Miranda. "Surprising I know. I'm not exactly the picture of one who has had dealings with them. Most people forget about it, not that I've had many people come asking. I like to try and forget with them for a time but the truth of the matter is I can't. There are brief moments but nothing more." Miranda shook her head before taking a sip of tea painting a smile of her face once more.

"So you did indeed deal with vampires?" asked Gilderoy taking a snatch off of his cookie looking at the woman before him with awe. It just didn't seem possible.

Miranda nodded, "I did, and most of the time it is not something I wish to relive."

"Then why did you agree to meet with me?"

"I agreed simply because it helps to talk on occasion, and I figure seeing as you are a writer you might be able to tell my story to others and allow them to know something of the truth of what happened."

"So what did happen?" asked Lockhart very intrigued forgetting to get out his quick quotes quill as he took another sip of tea eager to hear Miranda's tale.

"It started when I was a young girl, about eighteen years of age when I had been out exploring one of the dark forests. Many people question as to why I was doing such, and the simple answer would be to prove myself. Growing up as I have people have questioned me and my skills for years. I had several slanderous remarks made about my heritage and my ability as a witch questioned several times over. Having grown tired of it and being of age to make my own decisions, I went out to prove my worth.

'There is where I met him, Marek. At first I was quite surprised to find another person in the forest. There were several tales of the creatures that resided within, and I was considered crazy for entering myself. It had been a few weeks into my expedition and several fights for my life such as keeping a pack of red-caps at bay, avoiding detection by the centaurs, and many other manner of creatures. I had more than likely proven myself over a dozen times but I was still in the search for more, and little did I know I had found it in Marek.

'When I saw him, I was glad of it. I had longed to see a human face and his was most welcome, additionally so because his was quite the handsome one at that. He was a fair distance away when I called out to him beckoning him to come join me. Marek faltered at first before approaching, looking at me as I must have looked at him, in fair surprise and wonderment.

'In that meeting with Marek my first mistake was to fail to realize how clean and well put together he was in comparison to my haphazard look which came from weeks of living rough. I should have known then that something was up but I wanted to keep him near, hear the voice of another human. We talked and got to know one another. We stayed where we were talking away the early evening hours and through the night. When it reached near dawn Marek excused himself to leave promising to return once more.

'It had mystified me how he could make such a promise as I was going to continue my travels after a few hours of sleep, but true to his word when evening came there he was again to spend the night with me. This occurred for several day before finally..."

Miranda cut off at this point and coughed lightly, a blush creeping up on her face. It caused Gilderoy to jump slightly in surprise as he seemed to be pulled suddenly away from the story she was telling. After taking a sip of tea Miranda smiled, "I'm sure you as a writer can probably fill in the details that I'm neglecting to mention.

'In that short time Marek and I grew rather close. I felt that I may have met my soul mate in our brief stint together, but it seemed that was not the case as Marek took it upon himself to call an end to our time together. He could not go through with what he was meant to do. His words mystified me at the time and I begged him not to go. With him running off, I found myself heart broken so to speak. It wasn't much of a relationship but my feelings grew fast and deep. You could probably credit to the fact that I was young and naive. Thus I waited and did not move from where I had camped that night. I hoped that Marek would return.

'He did but he seemed different almost sad, he regretted that I was still there and that things were not going to end well for me because of it. I was mystified by his words, until he revealed what he really was something I should have realized from the start but refused to believe. As I finally accepted the truth others from his coven joined him. I was surrounded with no way out it was a matter of be eaten or fight my way out. I chose the latter.

'I don't know if some of my success in getting out was because Marek actually had feelings for me, or if I am actually that skilled of a witch. All I know is that I made it out alive with a story of a life time."

"But what about..." spoke Gilderoy looking to Miranda with confusion which was met with a smile.

"Yes it was several years down the road when I felt I had gotten on with my life. I had actually just moved into here and was looking to marry Jared a man I had met a few years after my time in the forest. Marek came to see me and he was alone. I wouldn't grant him entrance into my home, one of the few defenses against vampires as they cannot enter a place uninvited. He spoke of how he regretted the night I was attacked and how he had changed in some way because of me, he proclaimed that he found a way to maintain his diet with out killing people. I didn't believe him and to this day I'm glad I didn't for when the dawn came and he left, my Jared was found dead, killed presumably by vampires."

"There was no special magic or spell to ward him off?" asked a surprised Lockhart looking at the woman with disbelief, much of what was before him making all the more sense.

"Not unless you count love as magic," there was a wry smile on her face as if she was hiding more than what she was telling Gilderoy.

"Why am I inclined to believe that there is more to this story than you are telling me?" asked Gildeory.

"Because there is," answered Miranda, "Much more, more than I care to recount personally ever again, the true details of my past are found in three burgundy bound books upon the end table in the next room over. You are free to retrieve them before you leave, they should supply you with another wonderful story to tell."

"Then the story there is as your letters indicate?" asked Gildeory standing up from his seat.

"They are indeed," answered Miranda with a sad look upon her face.

"You realize then that I'll be taking the books and erasing your memories of the events held within them."

"Don't you think I already realized that? You underestimate me Gilderoy. I am not as simple as I appear."

"I can tell that, can I trust that they time frame of the events you told me is accurate?"

"It is," answered Miranda "Now if you wouldn't mind getting things over and done with and be on your way, I would like to get on with my life minus the memories of what I wish to forget."

"It will be my pleasure. This has been the easiest yet the most interesting encounter I have had with someone whose story I took."

"I'm glad I was able to help make things interesting," spoke Miranda looking up at him, not flinching in the least as Gilderoy held his wand out to her.

"Obliviate!"


End file.
